Video is arguably the most effective means on the planet by which to market a brand. It has the ability to deliver your message to billions of humans simultaneously and convey the exact same, perfectly tailored, message to each pair of ears and eyes. However, if you’re not leveraging video content properly in your marketing plan, you are probably missing a vast amount of leads and conversions.
At Identity Visuals, we believe good video content, when leveraged correctly, produces noticeable ROI. Here are a few tips to consider to help you mine the most possible ROI from your video content.
1. Use A Video Hosting Provider Other Than YouTube
Examples: Wistia, Brightcove, Viddler
The biggest mistake I see most businesses make when they begin marketing online video content is their choice of a video hosting provider. The most prolific violator is YouTube followed closely by Vimeo (I’m not saying you shouldn’t upload your video to those sites, but I’ll get to that later). Neither YouTube or Vimeo have the features needed for effective video marketing. Take a look at a hosting service like Wistia. Wistia is a video hosting platform that’s built from the ground up for businesses. They provide tools like Turnstile, which is an e-mail collector that syncs with your e-mail marketing service provider. You can customize the look of your player to match your branding and seamlessly integrate your player with social media accounts. They also have a pretty spectacular learning center. I’ve only scratched the surface of Wistia’s capability, so check them out for yourself.
2. Rich-Content Social Media Posts
Examples: Moontoast, Promoboxx
Moontoast is an awesome startup that came to life in our hometown of Nashville. It allows you to create content-rich social media posts and provides the tools to track your ROI. Your posts can place your video content directly above purchasing options and wrap them up in a beautifully designed interface. Learn more on their website.
3. Google AdWords for Video
Google AdWords for Video is an invaluable tool for any business trying to expand their marketing efforts through video. It works very similarly to regular Google AdWords campaigns in that you videos show up based on user search queries. The service is surprisingly affordable and you only pay for an ad if a user watches the entire video. Read some of their success stories from companies like GoPro and ModCloth.
4. Use A Video E-Mail Marketing Platform
Examples: Emma, MailChimp, Constant Contact
Emma is the e-mail marketing platform we use at Identity Visuals, but works very similarly to MailChimp, Constant Contact, or a host of other providers. Using e-mail marketing for distribution of video will help your email marketing campaigns as much as it will increase exposure for videos. E-mail marketing efforts that include video have been proven to have 200% to 300% higher click-through rates (you have to pay for the full study) than videos with only text. Try including a video in your next e-mail campaign and see how it affects your results.
5. YouTube and Vimeo
As I mentioned before, YouTube and Vimeo are not where you should host your videos for the purpose of embedding on your website, emailing, or most other efforts, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have them on those sites. There are over 1 billion unique visitors to YouTube each month and having a well-curated YouTube channel can result in acquisition of that viewership. Additionally, Vimeo has a significantly more customizable player and a better reputation for providing quality video content. Both hosting services have tremendous SEO benefits and can drive noticeable traffic for your marketing campaigns.
As with any marketing tool, you need to test these services within your own marketing campaigns to see if they’re effective for your brand. We love making videos that tell stories, but we love even more when they’re effective in our clients’ marketing plans and we think these tools will help you leverage video to its fullest potential.
Author: Samuel Cowden
Courtesy of www.reelseo.com